Before
anything else it is necessary to clarify which of Haydn’s
two Masses sometimes called “Missa Cellensis” is recorded
here. It is not the “Mariazeller Messe” of 1782 (Hob.XXII:8),
but that known for many years as the “St Cecilia Mass”.
Since the discovery in 1969 of an inscription on a previously
missing part of the manuscript score which describes the
latter as “Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissinae Virginis
Mariae del Guiseppe Haydn 1766” it has become clear that
either Mass can be referred to as the “Missa Cellensis”.
They are sometimes now distinguished by their sizes – this
is the “Grosse Mariazeller Messe” – Carus only make this
clear in the small print within an essay in the booklet
- and the erudite will know it by its Hoboken number.

Anyone
who buys this expecting the other “Missa Cellensis” might
be disconcerted but should not be disappointed as both
the work and the performance are first rate. Haydn’s late
Masses are amongst his greatest works, and whilst it would
be an exaggeration to describe this piece in that way it
is certainly an imposing, interesting and sometimes moving
work. Its length alone would set it apart from both earlier
and later works, and only rarely is there any sense of
routine in Haydn’s setting. Such passages as the Agnus
Dei and the Sanctus are indeed amongst the composer’s
finest music, and on their own they are sufficient reason
to justify adding a recording of the work to you collection.

Although
not one of the composer’s most recorded works, there have
been several fine versions over the years, including those
by Simon Preston and the late Richard Hickox. Like them
the present version uses period instruments and a small
choir - 16 voices in this case. I have not been able to
compare them, but in any case this differs in being a live
recording of what was clearly a very fine concert. The
playing and singing throughout are idiomatic and show great
understanding of the music. It used to be common, especially
in more puritanical Anglo-Saxon circles, to look down on
the elaborately decorative Masses of this period, with
their elaborate vocal display and theatrical manner. The
photographs of the Frauenkirche in the booklet however
make it clear just how much a part of the aesthetic of
the period this is, as the building itself appears closely
to resemble a baroque theatre. The only problem that this
sets is in acoustic terms, but the engineers have done
well to capture both the large space and the detail of
the piece and its performance.

The
first page of the first published edition of this work
(1807) is reproduced in the booklet together with the first
page of Carus’s own modern edition. Immediately the listener
without a score of this work realizes how clear and well
produced the latter is, and probably will want to own a
copy. Carus have perhaps missed a trick here, as there
would surely be scope for some kind of incentive to such
a prospective purchaser by offering some discount on the
score to those with the disc or vice versa, or perhaps
selling a combined score and recording package. That is
however a detail. Most listeners rightly will simply be
content with what they have here – a fine performance of
a still-underrated and under-performed work. Presentation
and recording are up to the same high standards as the
performance.

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